>>>>>Looking for recommendations for a new laptop.
>>>>>
>>>>>Requirements:
>>>>>
>>>>>* Would like a Dell
>>>>>* Will be using it for development
>>>>>* Windows 7
>>>>>* Wouldn't mind gaming on it (GASP!! Gaming on a dev machine!!)
>>>>>* Docking station
>>>>>* Dual monitor support
>>>>>* I don't EVER wanna run out of memory or HD space.
>>>>
>>>>I have a Dell that still works but only on AC and I have to be Deli (crazy in Turkish) to buy another. Its battery died w/o not even being used for its normal recharge cycles. It doesn't recognize its own original adapter (what ever that message means at startup). OTOH I have yet to see a notebook that I would find satisfactory to use for development. My first notebook was a Toshiba for example and I wouldn't buy a Toshiba again. Any notebook you buy today would have a life cycle of 3 or maybe 4 years and "I don't EVER wanna run out of memory or HD space." is a dream. You always do. Just for fun I personalized a Dell XPS Studio 16 with i7 quad 2.73, 8Gb, 256Gb Solid State Disk and its price topped to 2379$ in US. Instead I would buy a much better performing Opteron based server, install Hyper-V Windows 2008 Server R2 on it for free, then install one or more virtual machines (license matters) and then buy a cheap notebook maybe to connect it on the go (and really did something similar, working on it from anywhere I have internet access).
>>>>Anyway I know at the end you would go and buy a notebook and throw it away after 3-5 years:) The max price limit should be your starting point IMHO.
>>>>PS: You are still lucky notebooks are much cheaper there:)
>>>>Cetin
>>>
>>>I agree about Dell, I have had two, but I will NEVER buy another laptop from them. However, I don't agree about Toshiba. My current laptop is a Toshiba Satellite X200-20T, and it's almost perfect.
>>
>>Maybe I am old fashioned but have always had a preference for desktops over laptops. I don't do much traveling, don't want to work on the train, etc. so portability is not much of an issue. There are two laptops in the house. My daughter uses one of them, a Dell, all the time. For her usage it could just as easily be a netbook. There is also an HP which I bought for a song on eBay and was using while working in Louisiana a year ago. Now it collects dust.
>>
>>Today is the big day. My new desktop will arrive from Amazon -- this one.
>>
>>
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00318CO9I/ref=oss_product>>
>>I didn't spring for quad core but other than that I am not denying myself much.
>>
>>By a fortunate accident it's only costing me $242. I have had an Amazon Visa card for years, with Amazon credits for usage. After a (long) while it dawned on me that I was not getting any awards certificates. I called them up and it turned out they didn't have the right address for me, or so they said. (Somehow they manage to deliver all the stuff I order from them to the right address). Not only have I not paid for anything from Amazon in several months, the remainder paid for most of the cost of the desktop. Sweet! I think I am about to finally see Visual Studio fly. VS has caused every machine I have had up to now to bend over and wheeze.
>>
>>What amuses me is that only a few years ago a machine like this, if it had existed, would have cost thousands of dollars. Probably five figures. Now, 800 dollars.
>>
>>A trip down memory lane -- my first PC was an IBM XT. It had a 10 MB hard drive, an ultra low res display, and a clock speed so low I can't even remember what it was. I paid an extra $2000 for an NEC Spinwriter printer. Oh, let's not forget the floppy drive that used real floppies and sounded like a lathe. Total cost: over $7000. And I was still delighted to have the power of a computer sitting on my desk. I'll take now <g>.
>
>Brings back memories, for sure. Actually the clock speed for the first IBM PC was 3.58MHz, which is the same frequency as the crystals used in US color TVs. Since it was so much used, it was also cheap, which is about the only reason why that frequency was chosen.
For some reason 4.77 mHz rings a bell for the XT. A turtle!
